


Growing

by ThisWasInevitable



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Campaign: Amnesty (The Adventure Zone), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Kid Fic, Reader request, TAZ Amnesty, Trans Duck Newton, indruck, rating is for language, set post finale, this is gonna be fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:41:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23031892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisWasInevitable/pseuds/ThisWasInevitable
Summary: When a young mothperson comes through the gate to Sylvain, Amnesty Lodge isn't quite prepared to take care of a kid.Indrid Cold is even less prepared than that. But as the child grows attached to him and Duck, he finds himself in a position he never saw coming.
Relationships: Indrid Cold/Duck Newton
Comments: 26
Kudos: 201





	1. Newcomer

**Author's Note:**

> A reader requested: Indruck suddenly become parents, your choice how and why. 
> 
> Big thanks to the Indruck discord, including Tikkikwami and MorganEAshton, for spitballing ideas with me for this scenario months ago.

A late spring evening settles on the town of Kepler, West Virginia. Birds call distantly in the trees, and the Greenbriar river runs placidly through the parks and canals.

Looking at it, it is hard to believe that less than a year ago the town was a scene of utter chaos. 

There are still some reminders; the scar at the top of Mt. Kepler. The patches of the Monongahela that have yet to regrow. The empty spaces at dinner tables, the houses that had no one to return to them. 

Not everything can be repaired. Not everyone can be healed.

The same is true in Sylvain, though the goddess and Aubrey Little do much to heal and nurture the planet and its denizens. But even Sylvain's power, or Aubrey’s boundless energy and love, cannot undo a hundred years of loss. 

Tonight, though, such thoughts are far from most people’s minds this evening, on both planets. 

In the national forest, Juno Divine finishes her reports while Duck Newton does rounds of the campgrounds, checking off permits and checking for unauthorized fires. 

In their house on the edge of the grand city, Aubrey and Dani sit down to dinner, Dr. Harris Bonkers in a high chair between them. Dani winks playfully at her wife; outside, a brand new species of flower sprouts into bloom.

And in the gate between worlds, Joseph Stern links arms with his boyfriend, Barclay smiling and kissing his cheek. As they step through the gate, rebuilt and re-opened a half mile away from Amnesty Lodge, Barclay slips his bracelet on, becoming human as they set foot on the grass. 

“You’re right, that red starflower tea is better than anything you can get on earth.”

“What can I say, I know my tea.” 

“In more ways than one.” Joseph teases. Barclay elbows him playfully. 

“It was really hard to come by once the Quell swallowed everything but the city. I actually have a secret stash of it in my room, in the fireproof safe. I only used it for special occasions. Really, _really_ special occasions.”

“.....You made it after we had our first kiss didn’t you?”

“Yeah.” 

“I love you, my culinarily-inclined cryptid.”

“Love you too, babe.”

The lodge comes into view, warm yellow light beginning to flicker on in some of the rooms. 

Something rustles in the bushes behind them, and both turn. Nothing appears.

“Probably just a squirrel?” Stern’s hand slides towards a holster that isn’t there.

Barclay squints, his eyes better in the dusky light than Stern’s. Something is definitely in those shrubs, and it is way too big to be a squirrel. 

This could be a problem. 

\---------------------------------------------

Indrid Cold reclines on the couch, wearing his standard attire of white tank top, pajama pants, and Duck Newton’s Monongahela National Forest sweatshirt. 

He is supposed to be sketching up new poster ideas for the Cryptonomica, per his agreement with Ned and Kirby. 

Instead, he is mindlessly doodling hearts around a sketch of Duck’s face. 

But who can blame him? He hasn’t seen his boyfriend in person in nearly eight hours. 

Boyfriend. After almost a year together, the word still gives him butterflies in his stomach. Or perhaps moths. That seems more appropriate.

He’d come back to Kepler about a month after the Cottonwood incident, much to the delight of Aubrey and Ned (who kept asking him if he was willing to help drum up business for the Cryptonomica. He was not). 

Duck hung back initially. Indrid did not blame him; the human had clearly found his dwelling off-putting, his true form alarming, and on top of all that was grappling with the loss of his powers. Indrid was far from a priority for him. 

But then, one morning…

_He opens the door right before the ranger has a chance to knock, and Duck steps back, startled._

_“Sorry, shoulda expected that. Hi.”_

_“Hello, Duck. Is there something you need?”_

_“Can’t you see it comin?”_

_“I see you telling me several different things. You haven’t settled on what you will say.”_

_“Uh, would, uh, would you let me buy you dinner or somethin? As an apology for the whole punchin you thing?”_

_Indrid cocks his head, “You saved my life in the process. That hardly seems worthy of an apology. Though my head could have done without the extra bruise that evening.”_

_“Yeah, but, uh, know what, nevermind.” Duck stuffs his hands in his pockets, starts turning away._

_“But I would gladly have dinner with you.”_

_Duck looks relieved. He doesn’t understand why until much later._

_“Lodge?” They say as one._

_“Yes. Oh, and be careful skateboarding this afternoon; there’s a new crack on Main street that sends you flying in half the futures.”_

Dinner had gone well, conversation awkward at first but flowing easier once Duck admitted that he was more shaken by the loss of his powers, and the revelations of Minerva's past, than he felt he could admit to most of the other people in his life. 

_"What the fuck am I supposed to do with ‘hey, by the way, someone else who knew what you were goin through has been in town for decades but I never told you about him and wouldn’t let him talk to you about it oh fuck here comes a meteor?”_

_“I do not know.”_

_“It was a rhetorical question.”_

_“Oh. Apologies. I often answer those. It seems impolite not to.”_

Duck laughed then. A high, absurd, giggling sound that made Indrid laugh as well just from hearing it. And once Duck had caught his breath, still chuckling, he asked Indrid where he had gone after the Cottonwood. 

So began there once a weekly dinners, which rapidly morphed into two or three a week, with casual meetings in-between. Indrid began to feel at home, began to spend more time with his friends. With Duck.

Then the Mimic came, dusted with traces of the same power that the Cottonwood held, blurring his visions, delaying his timelines. Leaving body after body in it’s wake as the Pine Guard hunted it down. He helped how he could.

He learned the hard way that a bullet can pass easily through his wing and into the person he tries to shield. But the interference was enough to prevent the worst outcome. There is still a scar on his arm, the result of him demanding Aubrey see to Ned first. 

(Duck kisses the scar often).

Then came the FBI, swarming the town, driving him and the others into hiding. He parked the Winnebago in the back of the complex Duck and Leo lived in. He spent a great deal of time sitting on Duck’s couch, sketching, though he would leave if things got too loud, or he sensed Duck needed space. There were an equal number of times when Duck appeared at his trailer, desperate for a break from the increasingly cramped household. 

At some point, as his visions became increasingly apocalyptic and he paced the hallway in the apartment, Duck pushed his covers aside and told him to get into the damn bed. They both slept better after that (though it did result in Aubrey bouncing her eyebrows at them each morning, in spite of Duck grumbling that they were just two dudes sharing a bed). Duck even became comfortable sleeping on his Sylph form, saying it was like "catching zzzs on a weird, fluffy cloud."

When the day finally came to face the Quell, and for Duck to face his destiny, Indrid fought along side his friends. He waited anxiously where the gate had once been, watching for signs Duck and the others would be alright. Even when he saw they would be, his fear did not lessen all that much. After all, in some futures, Duck left Kepler with Minerva shortly after their return. 

But then Duck appeared, bruised and dusty.

_“Duck!” He can’t stop himself calling out._

_“Hey, ‘Drid.” Duck stops in front of him, “I’m so fuckin glad to see you.”_

_“And I you.”_

_Duck reaches up and cups his cheeks, “You got your glasses?”_

_Indrid removes them from their pouch, slipping them on._

_The kiss surprises him and he trills, throws his arms around the shorter man. Keeps kissing him, holding him, until Duck pulls away, panting._

_“Promised myself that if I lived through all this shit, that’d be the first thing I did when I came back.”_

Back in the living room, Indrid licks his lips, savoring the memory of that kiss. 

He does wish his trailer hadn’t been trashed by some sort of Quell centipede. Even if it made for the perfect excuse to move in with Duck. 

Before turning back to his drawings, he begins flicking through the futures. Reaches for the phone an instant before it rings.

“Hello, Mama.”

“Howdy Indrid. Uh, you mind bringin your disguise makin supplies up to the lodge ASAP? We got another mothperson here who needs one. Among, uh, other things.”

“Of course” visions flicker across his mind of himself speaking with one of his own kind in the lodge kitchen, “I’ll be there shortly.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

The scene that awaits him is just as amusing as it was in his visions. 

Barclay, in his Sylph form, is leaning against the counter. Clinging to him is a mothperson with light brown feathers, their head making an owlish turn to stare at Indrid when he enters the room. 

On the other side of the kitchen, as far away from Barclay as humanly possible, are Mama and Stern. 

“Any time we get closer, we get-”

“Hissed at.” Indrid finishes the sentence for the agent, “I see. I also see you’re about to say Barclay had to take off his disguise in order to coax them out of hiding.”

“Yes.” Stern nods. After Duck, he’s adapted the quickest of any human to Indrid always being a little bit ahead. 

Mama is about to explain further when Indrid removes his glasses and sets them on the prep table. The mothperson bursts in a flurry of chirps and clicks, looking between Indrid and Barclay anxiously, arms waving wildly. As they speak, Indrid notices something that escaped him when watching the futures. 

“Well, that explains quite a bit. This is a child.”

“What?” The other three blink at him, startled. 

“They don’t even have their secondary markings yet. Not to mention their size. Most moth Sylphs are closer to Barclay’s height. That makes our visitor about, hmm, ten years old by human standards.”

“So, you came probably through on accident, is that it kiddo?” Mama asks softly. The child shakes their head. 

Indrid folds his hands behind his back as he crosses to their guest, the mothperson taking a few steps away from Barclay in order to meet him. 

In his native tongue, as gently as he can, he says, “What is your name, little one?”

“Ray.” 

He translates this to the others, then continues, “It is nice to me you, Ray. I am Indrid. You can speak in a way the others will understand. They are friends, I promise.”

Then, in English, he asks, “Did you come through the gate on purpose?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” He cocks his head, then adds after a flash of futures, “I will not be angry at you, no matter the answer. None of my friends will either.”

“I don’t have a home. They said there was a home for Sylphs through the gate.”

“That’s where you are. The lodge is full of Sylphs like us. But, are you sure there’s no one who will be worried you are gone, like your family?”

A sad chirr, “No. I don’t have a family. They...it took them.”

Indrid kneels, rests his upper right hand on Ray’s shoulder, dreadful understanding settling in his stomach, “The Quell?”

A nod.

“Mother said run. I ran. I saw it happen from far away.”

Indrid offers a sorrowful, sympathetic chirr.

“I lived in the lowlands after that.”

“Ahah, that explains the grabbing me thing.” Barclay looks over at Mama and Stern, “there used to be a huge town in that area that was mostly made up of my kind. We tend to raise our kids communally, so taking in orphans happens a lot. I mean, what’s one more if you’re already watching a bunch?”

“Quell ate that too.” Ray whispers.

“I know.” Barclay sighs sadly, then musters a smile, “but a lot of the folks there made it to the city before it, or, uh, she, did. And Aubrey rebuilt the town a couple of months ago, I think.”

“I lost them when we ran. I kept looking when the Quell went away. I couldn't find anyone. I still don’t have a home.” 

“Well, you do now.” Mama takes a careful step forward and Ray tenses. 

“It’s alright, Mama is here to help you.” Indrid stays kneeling.

“She’s a human. They said humans are dangerous.”

Indrid opens his mouth, trying to sum up the complexity of human nature and the history between their homes, and finds his mind spinning like a tire trapped in the mud. 

From their expressions, the others are having a similar problem.

He sets aside the century and change of simmering violence and the fact that it was engineered by a third party, and focuses on the issue at hand. 

“Human’s can be many things, including dangerous. But lots of them are kind and loving. Mama, for instance, runs the lodge, which means she keeps us safe. Joseph” he points to Stern, “is Barclay’s boyfriend. If you stay close to them, and to the other Sylphs here, you’ll learn which humans to trust.”

“Okay.” Ray's antennae relax, but their gaze remains skittish. 

“Speaking of humans” Indrid walks over to where he left the small bag of items needed to make a charm, “you will need to be disguised as one most of the time, like Barclay and I are.”

Orange eyes narrow, “Why?”

Indrid pulls out a bracelet, a shell necklace, a Hello Kitty watch, and a mood ring, setting them on the table as he replies, “Even humans who are generally kind can react badly to things they don’t understand. Creatures like you and I, for example. Having human forms stops that from happening, and keeps dangerous people from finding out about Sylvain.”

“Okay.” Ray says again, stepping to the table when Indrid waves them over. He settles on a stool, pats the one next to it. Ray sits down, head cocked as they consider the items before them. 

“While you two are doing that, I’m gonna go make sure we have a room ready to go.” Barclay puts his bracelet on, walks towards the exit, and then backtracks, “oh, are you hungry Ray? I can make you dinner when I’m done. Do you have a favorite food? Ooh, have you ever had red velvet cake before?”

“Barclay, room.” Mama smiles fondly.

“Right, sorry. Be back soon. Think about food you like!”

Ray furrows their brow.

Mama shrugs, “he does that every time someone new comes to live here."

“It’s adorable.” Stern sighs as Mama follows Barclay out of the kitchen.

“Can I have this?” Ray holds up the mood ring, transfixed by the changing color. 

“You can indeed.” Indrid smiles, “That will be the charm you wear for your disguise. Now, how would you like to look?”

“Can I be purple?”

“I can give you purple hair. Anything else?”

“Ummmmmmmmmmmmm.” 

As Ray muses, he turns to Stern, “May I borrow your phone to show them some images? That may help them decide.”

“Of course.” Stern taps in the code, and Indrid flips through his photos.

Little by little, Ray points out features they want, and Indrid patiently sketches them out into a portrait; angular features, much like his (“I like how pointy you are”), tan skin, mismatched eyes like Duck, freckles like Aubrey and, of course, purple hair. 

“Is that good?”

Ray nods, bouncing excitedly on the chair. Indrid commits the image to memory, shuts his eyes, and moves his hands over the ring. Ray chirps appreciatively, clapping at the orange flashes of light. When he glances to his right, he finds Stern watching him with interest; he forgets sometimes how remarkable his powers are to humans. 

“Voila.” He presents Ray with the ring, and they slip it onto their pinky finger.

Suddenly, a ten year old human wobbles on the stool. Indrid catches them, helps them down, grateful that he thought to build a black t-shirt and purple leggings into the initial disguise so the poor child isn't facing the room with bare skin.

“Steady there. I know, I fell over the first time I had to balance without wings and with human eyes.”

“My head hurts.” Ray rubs their temples. 

“The charm takes some getting used to. Don’t worry, you will feel better soon.” 

“You’re also probably dehydrated.” Stern goes to the tap and gets a glass of water, “here you go.” 

Ray takes the glass quickly, drawing back towards Indrid as soon as they have it. Stern doesn’t seem hurt in the slightest, simply smiles, “It’s alright, the grown-up Sylphs were much the same way when they first met me.”

“In my defense, you were quite intimidating, Mr. Man-in-Black.” Barclay appears in the door, “Ray, your room is ready.”

“Shall we go get you settled in, little one?” Indrid puts his glasses back on. 

Ray looks at Barclay, “Can I have some fruit for dinner?”

“Of course. I’ll make a plate and bring it to your room, okay?”

Ray chirps out a thank you and Indrid offers his hand. They take it, following him quietly to the prepared room. It’s clear Barclay took extra care; he’s turned up the radiator to make it warm enough for a mothperson and put brightly colored, fluffy blankets on the bed.

Mama waves at them as she finishes setting a mug of tea and an entire basket of sugar packets on the bedside table. 

“Barclay’s rubbin off on me, first thing I thought to bring to help you feel at home was tea.”

Ray nods in a way that suggests they understood what all those words meant separately. 

“You go ahead and get comfy kiddo. Guessin Barclay’ll be here with dinner soon. I need to talk to Indrid for a second, we’ll be right back.” She jerks her head towards the hallway. He follows her out, shutting the door softly. 

“Don’t suppose you got any visions about what the fuck to do now?”

“How do you mean?”

“Indrid, we ain’t ever had a kid that young come through on their own before. They didn’t even bring any clothes with ‘em, and they can’t just wander and get the lay of the town the way a grown Sylph could. They need adult supervision. We ain’t set up for that.”

“Barclay seems quite adept with them.”

“Barclay’s workin most of the time. Hell, I’m already feelin protective of the little critter, but I've been swamped too ever since that magazine wrote the place up.”

Indrid looks at the futures, focuses on ones that include Ray.

“Their futures are shifting a great deal, to the point I see too many timelines to plan for right away. It may be best if we, how does Duck put it, muddle along for the first few days. That will give us a better sense of how to proceed.”

Mama looks toward the closed door, “Guess that’s the best we can do for now.”

Jake’s voice comes down the hallway, “Mama, phone for you!”

As she walks briskly in the direction of the lobby, Indrid opens the door. Ray is sitting on the bed, flipping with fascination through all four of the T.V channels. The clock on the wall tells him it’s time to pick Duck up from work. 

“Ray, I need to go now.” 

Ray’s eyes widen, “But, you’ll be in the lodge still, right? Can I come to your room if I get scared?”

Indrid shakes his head, “I don’t live here. I live in the town.” He grabs the complimentary pen and notepad sitting by the phone, “Here, I am going to leave you three things. The first set of numbers are for my phone. Dial them on this” he points to the landline, “and you will be able to talk to me if I am at home. The next sentence is my address, and unless Sylvain changed completely in the time I was gone, you know what that is.”

“Yes.” Ray hops off the bed, peeks around him to watch as he sketches an image of the apartment.

“You can come visit me whenever you wish, just ask Barclay to help you get a ride into town. That picture is what my home looks like from the outside, in case you are trying to find it at some point and get lost. Or if Jake offers to take you to my house. That man cannot read street signs, I swear.” 

Ray picks up the paper, reads it over and holds it protectively to their chest, “You’ll come back tomorrow, right?” 

Indrid smiles, chirrs reassuringly, and pats their head, “Of course--oh!, oh, alright.” 

Ray has thrown their arms around his middle, hugging him tightly. 

“Promise?”

Indrid stares down at the hope flickering under the fear and exhaustion in that young face. He remembers, with unbidden, keen pain, the feeling of being alone. Of not seeing someone like him for months, then years. Imagines being a child during all of that. 

As he returns the hug, he murmurs, “I promise.”


	2. Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Duck goes grocery shopping. Ray meets a cat. Indrid does his best.

Duck shoulders the grocery bags, pulls his key ring off his belt, already thinking about the surprise he got for Indrid (he’s learned that minor surprises work best; Indrid will notice a night on the town in the timelines right away, but not a new cereal in the cabinet or his favorite soda in the fridge until a few seconds before it happens). 

It’s only when the key touches the lock that he notices the door has been forced open. 

He doesn’t miss Beacon that often. But in moments like this….

Yeah, no, he still doesn’t miss Beacon, but he does wish he kept something more dangerous than bear spray on him. 

He sets the groceries on the step and opens the door slowly. Listens, hears nothing beyond Winnie yowling for dinner. He scoops her onto the counter, stays ready to drop into his battle stance as he investigates the house, peeking in closets and under the bed, just in case. 

No one is there, and nothing is missing that he can see. His laptop, camera, and the T.V are all still in their normal spots. 

His mind is so busy looking for intruders that he almost misses two things: the moths-nest of blankets on the couch, and the sticky note on the counter from Indrid telling him he had to run out to stop a traffic incident. 

Meaning that if there’s a mothman under those blankets, it’s sure as hell not his mothman. 

He’s got a hunch as to who it might be. Indrid told him all about Ray last night, hands gesturing wildly as he worried whether he should have offered to spend the night looking after the child. It was only after checking the futures, and Duck pointing out that Mama, Barclay, and plenty of others at the lodge were there if the kid needed something, that Indrid finally curled up around him in bed. 

“Uh, if there’s a mothperson in my blankets, it’s alright by me if they come out. I ain’t mad that they’re, uh, apparently strong enough to break my door. I done that three times on accident, Minerva did it once, and Leo did it once too. I think.”

Feathery antennae poke out of the top blanket. He counts that as good enough for now, grabs the grocery bags from where he left them, and shuts the door. 

“Why are you in Indrid’s house?” Orange eyes glare at him as a Ray sits up, quilt around their shoulders. 

Duck sets the bags on the counter, “I live with him. Think he showed you a picture of me last night. We’re boyfriends.”

A small growl, “Prove it.”

Duck pulls his phone from his jacket pocket, and pulls up his home screen. It’s a candid Aubrey got of them at Candlenights, Duck draped over Indrid’s shoulder, watching him draw. She snapped it at the moment Indrid noticed Duck was there, so his face is upturned, grinning, as Duck smiles down at him. 

The photo seems to satisfy Ray’s wariness, though they stay bundled up.

“Where is he?”

“Out on an, uh, errand. Ain’t sure when he’ll be back, but I’m happy to keep you company until he does.”

Ray stares at him for a moment, “Okay.”

Then they disappear back under the blankets. 

Duck decides to give them space, sets about putting away groceries and gathering dirty dishes into the sink. Indrid said Ray was about ten, so he thinks back to his teenage years, to when Jane was about that age. Tries to remember what they did on nights his folks worked late, what things cheered her up on a bad day. 

Jesus, when was the last time he had a kid in the house?

He gets along great with Juno’s girls, and plays the doting uncle to his nephew when the opportunity strikes. But that’s different than having a traumatized ten year old on your couch.

Hell, he hasn’t even babysat in a decade. 

First things first: he needs to order dinner. He’s got a feeling tonight will be easier no one has to cook. 

“Thank you for calling Dominoes, this is Justin, what can I get you?”

“I'm gonna need a large pineapple pizza and a medium cheese. Oh, and some of those cinnamon stick things. With…” he remembers the last time, “eight of the frosting cups, please.”

He confirms his address, hangs up, and turns to find Ray peeking over the back of the couch. They duck down as soon as he sees them.

He opens the fridge, calls, “You thirsty?”

A beat, then, “yes” drifts over the couch. 

Duck grabs a pineapple soda, since Indrid’s mentioned that pineapple tastes similar to a fruit commonly grown on Sylvain. Opens the cabinet for a glass and spies something he’s very glad he didn’t throw out. 

“Here you go.” He holds the bottle, now sporting the bright blue curly straw he found, out as light brown antennae twitch. Ray emerges just enough to take the drink. 

“Might wanna switch to human when you drink that. ‘Drid once got his tongue stuck in a Coke bottle trying to drink it as a mothman.”

Ray chirps a small laugh, seems startled by the noise. 

“That’s silly. Even little moths know not to do that.” They slip a mood ring on, blankets collapsing down around a gangly, ten year old form. 

Duck settles on the other end of the couch, “It was eggnog cream soda. He got so dam-uh, darn excited, he dove right in. Swung it around on his tongue, chirpin like all get out, til he remembered he could put his glasses on.” 

Ray chirp-giggles, then cocks their head, “what’s eggnog?”

“Drink we have in the winter time. Pretty sure ‘Drid will be happy to teach you about it.”

A slurp as Ray thoughtfully drinks their soda. They pull back, look at the straw a moment, and then blow through it, grinning at the bubbles. They do it again and Duck snickers at how pleased they look with themselves

Winnie hops onto the back of the couch, headbutting his hand when he scritches her. 

“Why is your cat so small?”

“Huh? Oh, right, they get real big on Sylvain, even the ones that ain’t enchanters. Earth cats are small so we can keep ‘em in our houses without them eatin us.”

Ray looks sidelong at Winnie, concerned. 

“I’m kiddin. Mostly. So, uh, you got things you like to do? Know sittin here listenin to me yammer ain’t most kids idea of fun.”

Ray shrugs, polishes off the soda, and looks at him hopefully. 

“You want another one?”

“Yes. Please.”

He hops up, getting another soda for Ray and a Whiteclaw for himself. Benefit of being weirdly tough is that he doesn’t get drunk easily, so he can have an adult beverage without compromising his ability to watch a child.

When he gets back, Ray has figured out flicking a jingleball across the floor in order to send Winnie sprinting after it. 

The phone rings, and he sets the drinks on the table to answer it.

“Go for Duck.”

“Duck, it’s Barclay, please tell me Ray is at your house.”

“Yep, on my couch as we speak.”

“Oh thank _fuck_.” Barclay sounds close to passing out, “they were in the kitchen with me this morning, and got kinda overwhelmed once we got busy, so they went to hang out with Jake and then, well, you know how Jake can get distracted easily.”

“It’s okay buddy, guessin they followed the directions ‘Drid left. We’ll bring them back tonight.”

“Thanks, Duck.”

He hangs up, and Duck heads to the couch. Ray is mostly out of the blankets, trying to coax Winnie over by clicking at her. 

“Uh, next time you come lookin for Indrid, you might wanna tell someone you’re goin first.”

“Usually nobody notices if I leave somewhere.”

A pang in Duck’s chest at the implications of that sentence, “ Well, now you got quite a few folks lookin out for you. Which means you can’t go wanderin off, okay? Next time you wanna leave the lodge, tell Barclay or Mama. Or Joe, if he ain’t busy. And have one of ‘em drive you down; that ain’t the safest walk, specially for a kid.”

“Okay.” Ray runs a hand along Winnie’s back, subdued. Duck catches his last few words in the air and cringes at the tone.

“Sorry, dropped into big brother voice there. Point is, you got adults who want to help you. The trade off is not givin them heart attacks when you can avoid it.”

(He leaves out the part where his teen years involved causing lots of stress to adults in his life. They can cross that bridge when Ray is older).

“We got a deal?” He holds out his hand.

“Yes, we do.” Ray takes his hand, holds it loosely when he shakes it. Their fingers are like Indrid’s; icicles disguised as digits. 

“When do we eat?” Ray shoos Winnie away from where she’s licking condensation from the soda bottle. 

“Soon. Uh, you want me to show you a cool Earth thing while we wait?”

They nod. He crawls over to his DVD shelf, and grabs the case for _Tony Hawk Pro-Skater 2_. 

“Alrighty, prepare to see one of the best things humans have ever come up with: video games.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Indrid rubs his forehead as he opens the apartment door, flipping through the futures to ensure the disaster has truly been averted.

“Hey darlin, how’d it-”

“Agh, that new deputy is _maddening_.” He shuts the door much harder than necessary, “it took two hours for him to finally listen to me insisting that there was a blasted malfunctioning signal that was going to cause a two car, one bus, four fatalities collision!” 

A chirp draws his attention and he stops speaking, takes in the scene before him. 

Duck is seated on the floor by the T.V, shoes off, with an open bottle of silver nail polish in front of him. Hiding behind him, likely startled there by the noise of Indrid’s entrance, is Ray. The child peeks over Duck’s shoulder, and Indrid takes several deep breaths to compose himself.

“It’s alright, little one. I am sorry, I did not mean to alarm you. I see you have met Duck. And found my nail polish.”

“They wanted to be shinier, figured this was a good way to do that.”

“See?” Ray flops over Duck’s shoulder, wiggling sparkly green nails, “And Duck has some too.” They point at his silvery toes. 

“They wanted to do mine.” Duck offers with a nonchalant shrug. 

Indrid smiles, “Suitable color choices all around. Wait, how did you get here, Ray?”

“Walked. When there was no one here I got scared and, um, made the door open.”

Indrid is about to list off all the reasons this was unwise, when Duck holds up a hand, “Already covered it, sugar. And we got a deal they won’t do it again, don’t we?”

“Uh huh.” Ray nods emphatically. 

“Oh. Alright then.”

Duck screws the cap onto the polish, “Pizza’s on the table, and there’s a surprise for you in the fridge.”

“Supr-ooh, Jarritos!” Indrid claps excitedly before he even hits the kitchen. 

Soon, he’s seated on the floor with the others, Duck having put on a _Planet Earth_ DVD when Ray asked to have their nails painted. Once he’s done eating, he slips off his glasses, and Ray is suddenly nestled up next to him.

He chirrs gently, extends his wing so it drapes around Ray and Duck, who scoots closer when Ray tugs his sleeve. 

It doesn’t take long for Ray to start nodding off, head bumping against Indrid’s chest and then jerking back as they start awake. 

“I believe it is time to get you back to the lodge, small star.”

“‘M not small.”

“My average-sized star, then. Come, Duck and I will both see you back.”

“Can’t I stay here? I could sleep right there.” They point to the couch. 

“Well…” Indrid glances at the futures. As he does, Ray turns to Duck.

“I can stay, right? Please?”

“Let me and ‘Drid talk about it for a sec. You sit tight.”

Indrid follows him towards the bedroom.

“Now, I know what you are going to say, but let me posit-”

“They can sleep here.”

“....”

Duck grins, “take you by surprise there, sugar?”

Indrid looks at the futures more carefully, then murmurs, “No, not really. I, I’m not sure where the objections I saw coming originated.”

(This is not entirely true, but he is frightened to say why).

“I’ll go make the spare room up if you call the Lodge. Think Barclay’s had enough worry for one day.”

Indrid does exactly that, hangs up to find Duck showing Ray to the room. It had been the guest room when the lodge was off-limits, and has since doubled as Indrid’s sometimes-office.

“Bathrooms across the hall, and there's a whole stack of blankets on this chair in case you get cold. Huh, guess we oughta get you somethin to sleep in. Be right back.” 

There’s a minute of hangers clacking and drawers opening in the bedroom, then he returns, presenting Ray with a pair of rubber-duck patterned pajama pants and a faded Yellowstone National Park shirt.

“That oughta do it. You, uh, need anythin else, like a nightlight or somethin?”

“No, thank you.” 

Duck hesitates, looking as awkward as Indrid feels, and then smiles, “Sleep tight, kid.”

“We will be in that room if you need anything.” Indrid points at the bedroom.

“I know.” 

Right, bedrooms are not some strange concept to Ray. 

“Good. Well then, goodnight.” 

He shuts the door as he and Duck leave, and hears a “goodnight” slip through it as he does. 

\-------------------------------------------------

The shriek is loud enough that Duck, bolting awake, mistakes it for the flood warning siren. 

Indrid is already out the bedroom door, glasses off, before he gets his feet onto the rug. 

Ray is bolt upright in bed, their ring flung onto the floor of the closet. They're chittering frantically, curling in on themselves and trying to pull the blankets tighter. 

As soon as they see Indrid, the chirping and chittering increases, both right hands pointing out the window. 

“Somethin out there?”

Indrid shakes his head, “No, I believe they had a nightmare involving the forest.”

An indignant chirp that morphs into, “It Was not a nightmare! It was, it is going to happen, I can tell when they are going to happen. It looks different. The future always looks different.”

Indrid goes still, covers his mouth with all four hands, “It, I never anticipated, can it-”

“Ray, do you mean you only see the future when you’re asleep?” Duck asks gently. 

A frantic nod. 

“And the visions look different from a regular dream?”

“Uh huh.”

“Holy shit.” He whispers, “Ray, I get those same kinds of dreams.”

“But, but Barclay said Indrid could see the future, not you.”

Duck chuckles, “He sees all of it, all the time. I only see it the way you do.”

Indrid’s voice is shaky behind him, “Ray, what did you see in the dream?”

“A fire. In the woods. It, it burnt a lot of people.”

Indrid goes blank, then vibrates with alarm, “Duck, call whoever is on the night shift. _Now_.”

“Wait, what do I tell them, it ain't any good if I can’t say where the damn thing’s gonna start?”

Indrid clicks and mutters as he grabs a pen and pad of paper from his desk, thrusting them into Ray’s hands.

“I need you to draw where the fire is going to start. Quickly.” He snaps when they hesitate.

Ray takes the items, casting a frightened, overwhelmed look at Indrid. Then they put the pen to paper, and Duck watches a familiar action play out on a new form. Ray draws just as Indrid draws, as if the image is flowing through them and onto the page from some higher source. 

Trembling, Ray turns the page around. 

“I know exactly where that is.” Duck says, relieved. 

“You have four minutes before it starts.” 

Duck runs to the living room and dials, thanking every power he can think of that it’s Juno on night rounds, so he doesn’t have to waste time convincing her to believe Indrid’s predictions. 

Juno takes down the campsite number and the line clicks off. As he walks to the spare room, Duck wonders how Ray came by their powers. Is it as simple as them coming from the same source as Indrid’s? There couldn’t be another chosen one type of thing going on, could there?

And what the hell is that noise?

The third question is the easiest to answer. 

On the bed, Ray is cuddled in Indrid’s lap, black wings wrapped around them comfortingly as they cling to him. Indrid, eyes shut, soothingly brushes his hands up and down their back and head. From his chest comes an unfamiliar, low hum. Duck watches him as the hum dies down and Indrid’s mouth begins moving, strange sounds filling the air. As they float by, Duck recognizes them as Sylph words, and understands. 

Indrid is singing. 

A lullaby melody swirls around them, Indrid starting to sway slowly back and forth in time with the song. Now and then the words stop, replaced by the same, deep hum. Gradually, Ray’s antennae relax, and small, chirping snores punctuate the song.

Indrid drops into another hum, growing quieter and quieter, points to where the mood ring glints on the floor. 

Duck picks it up, sets it in his open palm. Indrid slides the ring onto Ray’s finger and scoops them up. 

“I think they will find it comforting to sleep in our bed.”

“Fine by me. Used to do that with my folks when I was little.”

“We are not their ‘folks’.” Indrid says over his shoulder as they enter the bedroom, something bristling under his mild tone. 

“I know. Just sayin I approve of the approach.” He pulls the covers back so Indrid can set Ray down. The Sylph puts on his glasses, but stays standing.

“‘Drid?” Duck rests a hand on his arm. 

“I ought to have stayed calmer. Goodness knows I remember what it was like, to be so young and so frightened by the unbidden visions of disaster flooding my mind. I apologized, but that does not feel like enough. I, they deserve better than what I faced.”

“Hey,” Duck tugs his arm, and the taller man turns, “they’re gonna get it, I promise. You know why?”

“Yes, but only because I see it coming.”

Duck huffs out a light laughs and cups his cheek, “Because we’re gonna help them. Both of us. And if we know what not to do, that means we got a better chance of not fuckin up. Might still fuck up though, but between us and everyone at the lodge, think we can make it work.”

“That is...remarkably comforting.” Indrid offers a tired smile. 

Duck kisses him, the gentle kind that always makes him purr, and whispers, “I do my best.”


	3. Quality Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray goes for a walk. Duck shares his coffee. Indrid goes shopping.

Rain plinks on the roof of the Monongahela ranger station as Duck summarizes his notes on tree specimen health. 

He grabs his mug, finds the coffee cold, and pushes away from his desk. On the trek to the break room, he thinks about the last few days. 

Ray is working hard to be Indrid’s shadow; the morning after the almost-fire, they’d sat between Indrid and Duck at the table, watching Indrid’s preparation of his (no longer) frozen waffles and carefully recreating it on their own plate.

Relatedly, Duck needs to buy more whipped cream. 

Ray returned the next day, this time dropped off by Stern, who was listening attentively to their questions about the town (and earth in general) and answering them the best he could. Ray had even waved goodbye to the agent, which Duck takes as a good sign.

Indrid, for his part, does his best to be kind and comforting. He thoroughly enjoys sharing his favorite earth foods with Ray, lets them sketch with colored pencils while he works on his drawings, and is already teaching them ways to deal with their visions so that they are not as frightening. 

Yesterday, Duck walked into the lobby at Amnesty to find them asleep on the couch, Ray sprawled on Indrid’s chest, snoring. He took a picture on his phone before waking them, tucking the image away for times he’s feeling low. 

But for all that, he and Indrid are in agreement that Ray needs to spend more time at the lodge, and can only sleep at the apartment a few times a week, at most. 

After all, while it makes sense that Ray would gravitate towards another mothperson, The Lodge has more adults to look after them. Most of whom are already doting on the kid. Stern takes them to the library and reads to them, Barclay makes them snacks (and has been teaching them to do laundry and help with basic food prep, pointing out that chores are a normal thing for kids to do). Jake has apparently already introduced them to Hollis (Duck is fairly sure that’s who’s responsible for giving Ray a skateboard, though Indrid informs him they asked for one after seeing Duck riding his). Mama sits and plays card games with them. 

She has also, on Indrid’s request, asked Thacker to look through the library for cases of magic with the same feature’s as Ray’s.

Now that it's clear that Indrid is not about to disappear forever, Ray only asks to spend the night once per evening, accepting the yes or no when it was given. 

Honestly, Duck’s not sure why they want to be at the apartment so much; the lodge has more to explore, more to do. That’s part of why he encourages Ray to hang out there. 

Indrid’s reasoning for maintaining distance with the kid isn’t always as clear, nor are the strange, conflicted looks that cross his face when he thinks no one is watching. Duck initially thought it was a result of so many years unmoored from others; the fear that getting attached to a person would make it hurt more when he left their lives.

(But Ray isn’t going anywhere. Neither is Indrid).

He and Indrid have talked about a lot of things, their plans for the future moving from abstract to concrete as the relationship deepened. Duck knows he wants to spend the rest of his life with the strange, wonderful man. He knows Indrid feels the same for him.

He has no fucking clue if Indrid’s hoped-for future involves kids. It’s never really come up, and while Duck used to daydream about being a dad, by the time he hit his forties he sort of figured it wasn’t going to happen. 

(He’s getting ahead of himself. There’s a big difference between being a friendly adult in a kid’s life and being their parent).

Maybe Indrid is dealing with a twin feeling to the one that made Duck ask Minerva yesterday if she knew of any Chosen who wasn’t on Earth (she didn’t). He didn’t ask for those powers, even if in the end he was grateful for them. The thought of Ray feeling something similar to what he did those first few years is like a splinter under his skin. 

(If the kid wants to run from their destiny for decades, Duck will help them do so in a heartbeat).

He slides the carafe back into the coffee maker, heads back to his desk, walky-talky crackling just as he sits down. 

“Go for Duck.”

“Hey, Duck” Juno’s voice statics across the line, “some hikers found a kid who seemed lost and brought them into the visitor center. Says they’re looking for you.”

He sighs, “Purple hair?”

“Yep.”

“Bring ‘em on over. Duck out.”

A few minutes later, Juno walks into the station with Ray in tow, who smiles brightly when they see Duck. 

Duck smiles back, “hey kid. See you met Juno. Juno, this here is Ray. They’re uh, fuck, um, my, cous-no, fuck, long lost, uh-”

Juno crosses her arms, “Duck.”

“They’re from Sylvain, same kind of person as Indrid.”

“See, that wasn’t so hard.” Juno shakes her head, amused, “I swear, sometimes I wish Ned would rub off on you more so it ain’t so painful to watch you lie.”

He gets halfway to a rude gesture before remembering Ray is there.

“Whelp, I gotta head back to the center. Nice meetin you Ray, please don’t wander off again.”

“Okay.” Ray waves goodbye to her, then crosses to Duck’s desk, staring at his paperwork.

“You tell the others you were comin here?” 

“Uh huh. I told Jake I wanted to come see you, and he said you worked in the forest. So I went to the forest.”

“When’d you get here?”

“I left at” he sees Ray tracing the path clock hands in the air, “ten.”

Duck looks at the clock, which reads 1:15, and feels his heart rate speed up, “You were wanderin around the woods for _three hours_?”

“Uh huh. But I stayed on the trail, like the signs said. I only agreed to come with those people who met Juno because they seemed so worried about me not having an adult. And I didn’t take any flowers, even though I really wanted to, because the signs said it was bad for the forest.”

He’s never switched from fear to pride so quickly, “Good job respectin nature. Probably shouldn’t wander around the woods alone, but I’m happy to take you out there pretty much whenever.”

“Okay.” Ray drags a chair over to sit next to him

“You know Indrid ain’t with me at work, right?”

“I know.” Ray swings their legs, “I wanted to see you.”

“Oh.” Duck says softly, “uh, okay. Gotta warn you, I’m mostly doin paperwork today.”

“Can I help?”

He chuckles, “I wish. Somethin I gotta do myself for now. Gimme a sec and I’ll find somethin you can do instead.”

“Can I have coffee?” They’ve been trying to drink coffee for the last week. 

Duck slides his mug over, “Knock yourself out.”

Ray sips eagerly, then-

“Blech.” They add an annoyed chirr, setting the mug down and shoving it back towards Duck. He smirks, takes a swig of black coffee. 

“Why do you drink that?” Ray keeps sticking their tongue out like a cat that licked something it regrets. 

“Like how it tastes. And I been drinkin' it every day for two decades and get grumpy when I don’t have it. You want some water?”

“Please.” 

Duck walks back into the kitchen, grabbing the water glass and some colored pens, printer paper, and an old nature guide. He sets them on the desk, clearing aside stacks of paper and some granola bar wrappers so Ray has space. 

“Okay, kid, let’s get to work.”

\---------------------------------------------------

Indrid pulls into the small lot by the ranger station at 4:55. He knows that Ray will be with Duck when he walks inside. He saw the futures shift that morning, Ray leaving the Lodge and wandering into the forest by way of one of the trails on the outer edge of the park. He also saw them ending up safely with Duck in every timeline, and so did not feel the need to intervene.

He simply checked the futures every thirty seconds to ensure they were still alright. 

When he enters the station, Duck is rapidly typing up a report on his computer. Ray sits beside him, munching from a bag of fruit snacks and sketching a rather excellent rendering of wildflowers, seeming to have translated the image from the guidebook in front of them.

Neither of them notices Indrid right away. Ray slides the paper across the desk proudly, and Duck pauses to look at it, beams at them while ruffling their hair. 

Longing, chased relentlessly by fear disguised as pragmatism, courses through his chest. It’s so strong he nearly steps backwards out the door, removes himself from the scene just so he can’t ruin it. 

“Hey, darlin'.” Duck shuts the computer down as Ray hops off their chair, hurrying to throw their arms around his middle.

“Hello, love. And hello, little one.”

“Hi! Come look, I drew all the flowers I saw today.” Ray leads him back to the desk, but Duck is already gathering up the drawings.

“How’sabout you show ‘Drid these over dinner? I’m damn near ready to eat my own arm.”

“And yet you insist that jogging to work does not create any side effects.” Indrid leans across the desk to kiss him. 

“Just an ass that don’t quit.” 

They share a hungry smile, before both looking down at Ray sheepishly. 

“Can we go now?’

Duck pulls on his jacket, “Yep. Here, sugar, toss me the keys. I can drive while Ray catches you up on everythin they been doin today, which I know they’re dyin' to do.”

Ray nods, tucking their drawings under their arm and taking Indrid’s hand.

Indrid squeezes it, fights away a dozen futures in order to say what he feels fully in the moment. 

“That sounds lovely, my dears.”

\----------------------------------------------------------- 

“What do you think of plaid?” Barclay holds up the skirt, checkered black and blue. 

“Hmmmm, maybe.” Ray points to a pile, one of three, before them on the thrift store floor. 

It’s early May, and Ray, Indrid, and Barclay are on the hunt for a new wardrobe for Ray, having realized that they can only go so long wearing too-large hand-me-downs from people at the lodge or cast-offs from Indrid’s closet. So he decided to take them shopping, and Barclay had tagged along, both because Ray asked if he wanted to and because he’s in search of new shirts. 

“Joe keeps stealing them.” He says with fond exasperation.

They’ve been here an hour, Ray amassing piles of clothes they picked off the rack, as well as suggestions from Indrid and Barclay. 

Given that the “to try” pile nearly reaches Ray’s head while they’re sitting down, Indrid thinks it’s time to move to the next step.

“Come along, my medium-sized star, it is time to try some things on.” He helps them carry clothes into the changing room, then sets about putting their already discarded items onto the return rack.

“How’s this?” Ray steps out in black pants, a flowy green shirt, and pink denim jacket.

“Compostionally questionable, but it looks very comfortable.”

Ray quirks their lips in thought, then disappears into the dressing room. Indrid turns back to the cart and, as he does, catches two women whispering, clearly looking between himself and the changing room while pretending they’re not doing exactly that.

“Odd” He lilts, as Barclay steps next to him to help him set the clothes onto the cart, “I wonder-oh goodness, you don’t actually think that do you?”

Barclay arches an eyebrow, “Depends on what you saw me saying.”

“That they think Ray is my child.” He hisses, sticking out a hand to catch the pants Ray tosses over the door with a dismissive, “too big.”

“That’s the going theory around town, at least from people who don’t know about Sylvain or are pretending they've forgotten about it. But yeah, man, I mean, Ray looks a lot like you.”

“I suppose they did ask for features similar to mine, but-”

“And most of the time if people in town see them, they’re with you or with Duck.”

“True…”

“Apparently, the rumor is that you knocked someone up while you were traveling around in the ‘Bago, and Ray turned up in town now because their other parent just died.”

“I would never be so careless.” He huffs. 

“I know bud, I know.” Barclay pats his shoulder, “would finding a new warm sweater help?”

“.....possibly, yes.”

“Think I saw a good one over by the shirts, be right back.”

Indrid paces as he waits for Barclay to return, or for Ray to finish trying things on, suddenly very aware that he is being scrutinized by no fewer than four people. He long ago got used to whispers and stares, to people giving him a wide berth, and learned how not to care about such things. 

But Ray is a child, and if they think Ray is _his_ child, they may transfer their preconceptions about him onto them. His reputation may proceed him, but he does not want it to do the same to Ray. 

Then again, Ray has already weathered a great deal worse than small town suspicion. Perhaps he is worrying too much. 

“Look!” 

He jumps, finds Ray grinning behind him, decked out in a bomber jacket that’s slightly too big for them. 

“It is so warm! And it looks just like Duck’s!”

It does look remarkably similar to Duck’s winter ranger jacket. 

“Quite dashing, my moonbug. Have you found other things you like as well?”

“Uh huh!” Ray flings the door open, piles clothing into their arms, pauses, then dumps that pile into Indrid’s hands instead so they can continue gathering clothing up. 

“Dang, someone had a lot of luck.” Barclay holds a bright pink sweater out to Indrid who, arms full, rubs his face against it to test the texture. 

“Ooh, excellent spotting Barclay. Please add it to the pile.”

By the time they’ve checked out, Ray has acquired the jacket, four pairs of pants, two skirts, a pair of red shorts, a yellow and black striped shirt, several tank tops, butterfly-patterned pajamas, a blue sweater, red sneakers, and two plaid shirts. 

Barclay drops them off at the apartment, and after Ray drops the bags of clothes into the guest room, they pad about the house, playing with Winnie and reading through the stack of _Outside_ magazines that live in a corner by the couch. 

Indrid is on the couch, sketching through futures when a bottle enters his vision. 

“Can I use this?”

It’s a shampoo bottle, one that he’s had since 1980, half full of Indigo Feather-Oil, one of the few things he ever missed enough to ask Barclay to smuggle him back from Sylvain. 

“Of course.” 

“Will you put it in for me?” Ray cocks their head hopefully. 

“With pleasure, my moonbug.” He slips off his glasses and holds out his hand. Ray gives him the bottle, sets their ring on the table, and sits on the floor with their back to him. 

It’s been close to a hundred years since he groomed another mothperson’s wings, but the motions come automatically. He dips three claws into the oil, one after another, and sets about carding them through Ray’s neck and back, setting mussed feathers right as he does. 

The tendons and muscle around their wings feels underdeveloped, and he muses, “Goodness, we need to get you flying more.” 

Then snaps his mouth shut as the answer appears. 

“I can’t fly.” Ray says, matter-of-factly, “I never learned how.”

“Well, we shall have to see to that. Right wing out please.” He tickles under their shoulder blade, making them squeak delightedly and extend the wing. 

“Will you teach me?” Ray’s head swivels towards him. 

He hums thoughtfully, as if he did not have his answer the second he saw the question appear. 

“Of course.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------

“I thought you dudes were just born knowing how to fly?” Jake fishes a Mountain Dew out of the Lodge fridge.

“The basic mechanics of it are instinctual, a bit like how most animals know to paddle their feet and keep their heads up if thrown into the water. But the finer points are usually passed down by watching one’s parents. Ray must have been even younger than I thought when their parents died. My guess is they stopped trying to learn and settled on running as the most reliable way to escape danger.”

“Good thing they got you to teach ’em.” Duck kisses his cheek, leans back against the counter. It’s nearly ten at night, but Mama has asked the three of them, plus Stern and Barclay, to meet her in the kitchen to discuss something urgent.

Just as Barclay hands him a mug of tea, he sees the conversation coming and murmurs, “oh dear.”

“Yep, oh dear is right.” Mama sits on one of the stools, “Turns out more’n a few folks, includin a truancy officer, have noticed Ray around town when all the other kids are in school. We got lucky today that is was me they were out with, so I could spin some yarn about them bein new in town. Point is, we gotta enroll them soon, or figure somethin else out.”

“Which means we need, among other things, to figure out who to list as their legal guardians.” Stern says, “Otherwise, they’ll end up a ward of the state, and it’ll be harder for us all to look after them.”

“Guessin you already got two of us in mind.” Duck glances at Stern, who nods. 

“Given their attachment to you both, and the fact that Duck is well known in town and, you know, actually a legal human resident of Earth, it seems like it might be the best option.” 

Duck looks at Indrid, eyebrow raised. 

“We have a little time,” Barclay adds, “so if you guys wanna, like, talk about it, you don’t have to make a decision right now.”

Indrid thinks for a moment, tries sorting through the futures and, finding them overwhelming, drops back into the present for a deep breath. 

“No.” He says, and watches confusion ripple along Duck’s face. 

“I am not the correct choice for this. So my answer is no.”

With that, he pushes open the doors, and hurries out into the garden.


	4. Love and Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Duck asks some questions. Indrid gives some answers. Ray gets a gift.

It doesn’t take long for Duck to join him. But instead of resting a hand on his shoulder, or trying to stop his pacing, he sits down on a nearby boulder. 

“What’s wrong, ‘Drid?”

“Nothing” Indrid whirls, “nothing is wrong. I am merely making it clear that I do not believe us becoming Ray’s guardians will produce the best outcomes for them.”

“How come?” 

Indrid freezes, the true reason sticking in his throat.

“We have only been together a little over a year.”

“ Do you see us stayin together?” Duck asks cautiously.

“.....Yes.” He says, unable to hide the smile he gets when he thinks of his future with Duck, both the one he daydreams of and the one he sees coming. .

“Okay, so what else?”

“We, everyone just assumes I will be the right choice because we are the same kind of Sylph. But what if that isn’t what I want? Or what Ray wants? Or you, for that matter?!”

“We can find out what Ray wants pretty easily. As for me, well…” Duck gazes first at the lodge, then up at the stars, “always kinda dreamed of havin a family. Not a big one, just, for a long time I thought that was in my future, especially if I could dodge all the destiny shit. Then I was forty-one and hadn’t dated anyone seriously in years. Then I joined the guard, sorta assumed that would end with me beefin it, didn’t think of much beyond waitin for the other shoe to drop.” 

Duck turns, features softened in the moonlight, “I don’t know what’s comin ‘Drid. Get the feelin you don’t either, least not in the way you want. All I know is that when I think about home, think about my future, I think about you. And when I think about addin Ray to that picture, even if it ain’t formally adoptin them, I feel all lit up inside. What they need, I think we could be.”

“ _You_ could be.” Indrid says, each syllable a fight to utter. 

“I know what I said.” Duck answers mildly. 

“Duck, for goodness sake, think about what I am. What I really am.”

“A mothman? A Sylph? My boyfriend?” Duck looks unsure as to the answer Indrid is looking for.

“I am a magnet for disaster. An omen of doom. Even my normal appearance and comportment is enough to alarm people into making me into an urban legend.”

“I gotta be the one to point out that the reason you’re associated with all that is because you keep tryin to stop disasters? That ain’t the same as causin them, Indrid Cold, and you damn well know that.” Duck stands, starts to cross towards him when Indrid holds up a hand to stop him.

“That’s just the thing. I know I do not have it in me to stop trying to prevent the disasters I see. But in doing so, I could die, or put you in danger without meaning too. I cannot do that to Ray. And before you ask, you are different. You are a grown man, and while I do not wish to lose you, or for you to lose me, I am not responsible for your wellbeing in the way I would be for theirs.”

“That’s why we’d do this together, goofus. So it ain’t just one of us carryin that weight. And that’s before we even get to the fact Barclay and them will wanna keep bein part of Ray’s life too.”

A warm hand rests on his shoulder, and he takes it, holds it tight, “There is more. When I was first learning to be the court seer, it was drilled into me that seers were not to have children. Indeed, even partners were cautioned against. The idea was that attachments would make it harder for me to truly weigh odds. Someone once referred to having a child as giving fate a hostage. Seers are already at fates mercy often enough as it is.”

“Ain’t ever put much stock in fate when I can help it.”

“I know.” Indrid turns to face him, “And I do not believe seers should be without deep connections, even if at the time it seemed a reasonable teaching. But the fear is still there, deeper and harder to pull loose than I anticipated. Ray deserves better than someone who is afraid to love them as they need to be.”

A future emerges and he’s perplexed before Duck even speaks. 

“I’m afraid too. Christ, who wouldn’t be at the thought of bein responsible for a kid?”

“You seem so confident that you want it.”

“I can have somethin scare the hell out of me and still know it’s what I want. I’m datin the mothman, for fucks sake. There was a point where I still saw your Sylph form and got scared, then remembered that it was you. That I wanted to be with you, even if that fear was the first thing to reach my brain.”

Indrid wavers, rests his head on Duck’s shoulder.

“There are so many things that could go wrong.”

“And that’s different from every other day how?”

Indrid offers a small laugh at the valid point. 

“‘Drid, if you really don’t feel ready, or really don’t want this, or really think we ain’t the right choice to be their guardians, I’ll drop it, and we all can figure somethin else out. No way in hell do I wanna push you into this, make you feel like you got no choice. But I do wanna know if there’s somethin under that fear-”

“So much, there is so much it is tamping down, so much I longed for when I glimpsed it in timelines. A home with you, a life with them, a future made of something other than wandering and disaster. A life full of love.” He wipes a hand beneath his eye to smear the tears he did not anticipate away. 

“That sounds like somethin worth tryin for to me.”

No one has ever said that aloud about those dreams. Not even him. Hearing it fortifies him, gives him hope for the better outcomes. Duck always has had that effect on him. The words floating in the air make it all, everything he longs for, seem not only possible, but good. 

“And to me as well.” He holds Duck close, inhales the cool night air. 

“We still don’t gotta decide right this second.” Duck murmurs, hand running soothingly along his back. 

“I know, my love.” He rests their foreheads together, “But I believe I can finally face my true answer.”

\-------------------------------------------------

Barclay wakes Ray bright and early, while Duck and Indrid sit at a table in the restaurant, Duck sipping coffee and Indrid stress-eating sugar packets. Stern and Mama sit nearby, flipping through the list of forms they’ve worked out Ray will need in order to pass as a normal human child. 

“What is going on?” Ray rubs their eye as Indrid pats the chair beside him. They’re still in their pajamas, purple hair clumped in odd ways from sleep.

“There is something we want to talk with you about, moonbug, and thought it best to do it now before Duck needs to go to work.”

“Am I in trouble? Is something bad happening?”

“No.” Indrid shakes his head, “You remember yesterday that Mama mentioned you will need to attend school?”

“Uh huh.”

“In order to do so, you will need one or two of us” he gestures to the assembled group, “to be your guardians. That means we would be responsible for you, and likely that you would come to live with whoever it was.”

Ray chirrs, intrigued. 

“We, that is, I and Duck, and really all of us, well, we, uh-”

“‘Drid and I are thinkin we’d be your guardians. But we wanted to see what you thought about that before we made it official.”

“You mean I could live with you? You would be my fathers?” Ray appears to be vibrating with excitement. 

“Kinda. Human laws mean we’d have to jump a few more hoops before we could officially call you our kid, but-”

“YES!” Ray flings themselves onto Indrid, chirping and trilling affirmatives in two languages.

The feeling of small, wiry arms around his middle, and the sheer joy and relief on Ray’s face, banish the last shadows of his doubt. 

He returns the hug, resting his chin on the top of Ray’s head, as Barclay declares it's time for celebratory breakfast, “Well then, my small star, I believe we are all in agreement. And I promise I will do all I can to be worthy of your excitement.”

\------------------------------------------- 

The Cryptonomica isn’t busy when they enter it, which may explain how happy Kirby is to see them.

“Hey Duck, Indrid! Oh, hey there.” He waves to Ray, who politely waves back. 

“Hey Kirby, Ned around?” 

“Yeah, he’s-”

“Will you kindly SHUT YOUR SMUG MOUTH?” Ned’s voice booms from the back, in the portion leading to the house. Kirby rubs his temples. 

“It’s been like this all morning.” 

Duck pats his shoulder, and he ushers Ray behind Indrid as they head down the hall. 

Ned is on his back on the floor of his office, clearly in the middle of his physical therapy regime, his exercise clothes as stylishly garish as the rest of his wear. 

“C’mon you old crook, you call that a stretch? I've seen floorboards with more flexibility.”

Ned glares at the specter floating above him, “Keep this up, old friend, and I will schedule an exorcism for the Cryptonomica post-haste.”

“Hate to interrupt you lovebirds” Duck smirks, “but we need your help with somethin, Ned.” 

“Ah, hello my friends, always lovely to see you. Ow” He stands, back cracking audibly, and grabs his cane, putting more weight on it than he used to, “how can I assist you and your wonderful ward today?”

“We gotta get Ray into school come fall. Which means we need more’n a few legal documents that we can’t exactly get the normal way.”

“I see. And our governmental friend is of no help?” Ned opens the top drawer of his desk, sliding a few papers around and pulling out a pen.

“Joe said he’d do what he can to make sure no one looks too close and gets us or you into trouble, and do what he can get to people to drop it if they start snoopin, but he draws the line at forgin government documents.”

“Fair enough. Not everyone is cut out for such things. What, exactly, is Ray missing?”

Indrid and Duck exchange a glance, then Indrid turns to Ray.

“Moonbug, this is likely to be a bit boring. How about you go look around the museum?” 

“Okay.” Ray starts to turn, then pivots back, “how come you have a ghost in your house?”

“Well, little chum” Boyd floats to stand (kind of) near Ray, “when someone gets you killed by failin' to mention there’s bloody monsters runnin' around that might decide to off you just because, it’s your right and duty to haunt them.”

“Especially if you’re afraid of the afterlife.” Ned mutters.

“And you are more attached to them than you care to admit.” Indrid grins, pleased his perception is enough to make a ghost blush.

“Ohhh.” Ray seems to grasp the meaning of his comment, and wanders back towards the main museum. 

“Really rather they not be around for a forgery until they're thirteen at least” Duck offers as explanation when Ned raises an eyebrow. 

“Very well, although I maintain there are some things you are never too young to learn.”

They spend the next half hour working from the list Stern generated for them of things they’ll need to enroll Ray in school and be sure Duck and Indrid are considered their guardians. Indrid offers to pay for his trouble, but Ned waves him off, insisting they can count this as the favor he owes Indrid for saving his life. 

Just as they’re wrapping up, Ray darts into the room.

“Look, look at what I found!” They hold a stuffed mothman aloft, it’s plush body not quite the same color as the genuine article, and Indrid prepares to patiently laugh when Ray says it looks like him.

“It's a tiny me! It looks like me!

“So it does.” Indrid smiles, “Since I foresee you asking, yes, you may have that. Stuffed animals are a common childhood item, and I do not believe you have any as of yet.”

“Eeeeeeh.” Ray hugs the toy, “thank you Indrid.”

“How much?” Duck reaches for his wallet. 

Ned holds up a hand, “This one is gratis, my friend. Consider it a housewarming gift from uncle Ned.” He ruffles Ray’s hair and they beam at him. 

“What do you say?” Indrid glances down at them.

“Thank you uncle Ned.”

“You’re welcome. Don’t get too used to it, I may not be able to indulge you all the time.”

“Okay! Are we done? Or should I go back out? Kirby said he would let me help organize the mugs if I was not.”

“I believe we’re done for now. Thank you again, Ned, and I’ll have those new postcards ready for you by Friday.”

“I shall see you then!” Ned waves farewell. 

Duck and Indrid exchange a smile when, through the shut door they hear:

“You’re gonna spoil that kid rotten, ain’t you?”

“No more than you are, my dear Boyd.”

“.....D’you think they’d like Clooney’s oscar?”

“Perhaps when they’re older.”

\----------------------------------------------------

May becomes June, and Indrid and Duck continue weaving Ray into the fabric of their daily lives. They still technically live at the lodge, as Duck tends to work long hours in the summer and Indrid has taken on extra art requests for local businesses (in spite of having a centuries worth of money tucked away, he likes it because it helps him feel like less of an outsider). So Ray stays where there are more adults around more or less the entire day. But once school begins, the plan is for the kid to move in with them full time. 

In the meantime, they get the spare room ready, Ray picking out things like black and green sheets, cactus fairy lights, and pillows shaped like food. They are endlessly amuse by paintings that have Bigfoot or mothman in them, resulting in both Stern and Ned giving them a great deal of stuff to hang on the walls. 

Duck takes them hiking, gets to watch them encounter fireflies for the first time. He and Indrid take turns cooking with Ray, though Barclay still has both of them beat in terms of skill as an instructor. They have movie nights, breakfasts out, hours flopped about the house reading or doing chores, times spent in the forest or days at the nearby lake. Sometimes it’s with others of the Amnesty family, sometimes it’s just the three of them. 

The flying lessons, however, are always just the three of them, if that. The first few times, Ray forbid even Duck from watching, insisting they were going to be terrible and didn’t want anyone besides Indrid to see that. 

In fact, this evening is only the second time he’s been allowed to come. They’ve found a clearing in the woods that’s so far away from town that the odds of them being seen if they’re above the tree-tops are low. 

Indrid begins the session with calisthenics; stretching out wings, circling arms, small sprints back and forth to get the heart rate up. 

“Now, moonbug, are you ready to practice flight? Or would you like to work on hovering?”

“Umm, flight, please.” 

Indrid holds out his hands and Ray takes them. 

“Watch my wings and try to match the pattern.” He flaps slowly, barely generating any wind, in a short-short-long rhythm. Ray does the same, grinning when they manage enough force to make Indrid’s antennae blow back.

“Very good. Now, let’s try a little more force, see if we can get off the ground.” Indrid pushes off easily, pulling Ray up with him as the flap. 

“Excellent, I barely feel any of your weight. That means you’re carrying yourself.”

“Hah!” Ray lifts their upper arms, then wobbles in the air.

“Steady now. Keep focusing on your wing beats. The more you practice, the more it will feel like second nature.”

Ray does as he says and Indrid guides them up and down, back and forth.

“I am going to let go now, alright?”

“O-okay.” Ray looks at the ground nervously. Indrid releases their hands and they drop an inch or two, wings working hard. 

“I do not know how long I can do this for.” 

“You are already doing splendidly. And you are overlooking something important: this is the first time you have stayed aloft on your own.”

Ray blinks, then chirrs in triumph, “I’m flying! Duck, Duck, look, up here, I can fly, I am flying!”

Duck cheers and whistles proudly as Ray manages to fly a full circle around the clearing, Indrid calling, “Brava, wonderful” as he hovers. 

Then he chitters, “oh dear” and dives forward just in time to catch Ray’s hands as their wings stutter and they drop. Duck stands up, fully prepared to break the fall of two mothpeople, when Indrid pulls them out of the descent before guiding them back to the ground. 

Ray lets out a series of upset chirrs and adds, “I was doing so good too” for Duck’s benefit.

“You did wonderfully.”

“My wings are so wimpy. I will never be able to fly like you.” They kick the pine needles on the ground with a huff. 

“Now, now, don’t get discouraged.” Indrid pets their mussed feathers down into order. 

“Why not?” It’s half petulance, half a genuine question.

“Because you have only been practicing for two weeks. As I’ve said, your wings spent a long time not being used. You have to build up your strength. That process can be rather annoying, I admit.” He lights up with an idea, “In fact, when I was first learning to fly, I once got stuck in a chimney.”

“How?” Ray asks with a giggle. 

“Come, I’ll tell you while we do some more wing strengthening.” 

Duck watches them circle, only a few feet off the ground this time, Indrid holding Rays right hands to help them along. His boyfriend gestures animatedly as he tells his story, grins whenever Ray chirps a laugh, and keeps up a steady patter of patient reassurance as they fly. 

Duck knows Indrid still has moments of worry about all this. He does too. For all they know, Ray has them as well. 

But as he watches the pair glide and chirp happily in the golden glow of the of the setting sun, those worries seem like they belong to another man. Because this picture, this pair of beings, are things that he knows for certain he will cherish for the rest of his life.


	5. Grow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray starts school. Indrid makes a discovery. Duck comes to an understanding.

“Whooooooo’s ready for photos of their big day!?” 

“Aubrey” Ray whines halfheartedly, returning their auntie’s embrace gladly, “You do not all have to be here to see me. It is just my first day of school.”

“I really wish y’all had come slightly later. Y’know, when I’d had time to put on pants?” Duck adjusts his bathrobe as his friends invade the apartment at six in the morning.

“I did suggest you wear something more than your boxers to bed.” Indrid lilts as he pours Duck coffee. Duck attempts to glare at him, but is thwarted by how cute he is, all sleep-rumpled and smiling.

“Doughnuts!” Ray vaults the couch to hug Barclay, who is holding six pink boxes over his head as he walks into the room. 

“Yep, gotta have a nutritious breakfast for your first day. Which is why I made these…..and Joe sent me with an apple and a granola bar for you too. He says hi, he’s gotta take a work call super early.”

“Oooh, you made ones with purple sprinkles. Thank you!”

“Hold up, before everyone gets covered in crumbs, it’s picture time!” Aubrey pulls out her phone, motions to the couch, “Duck, Indrid, Ray, come sit down.”

Duck and Indrid sit with Ray between them, bright-eyed, each draping an arm around the kid.

“Okay good, hmm, actually, babe, can you hit that light? Thanks honey!” Aubrey takes a step back, “okay, three, two, one, cheese!”

Duck smiles, keeps doing so even after Aubrey puts her phone down.

“Right, let’s do one with you two in mothform, just for fun. Duck, how about you go in between them this time.” Aubrey steps back in preparation for fitting the Sylphs into the frame. Indrid removes his glasses, and Ray takes off their ring as Duck trades places with them. He just spots Indrid giving Ray a wink before Aubrey counts down.

“Three, two, one-”

“Ackhhaha, you jerks!” Duck laughs out as Indrid and Ray both lick him just as the picture is taken.

“Oh yeah, that one is going on the wall.” Aubrey grins.

“Menaces, both of you.” Duck fluffs Ray’s cheek. 

“Indeed. _Your_ menaces.” Indrid nuzzles him, “Isn’t that right, moonbug?”

Ray hugs him close, chirring happily, “right.”

\-----------------------------------------------------

“This is one of the strangest earth rituals I have ever engaged in.” Indrid fidgets with his glasses. 

“I ain’t been in a middle school since I watched Jane graduate.” Duck shudders, brushes lint from his sweater. He and Indrid are doing their best to look like totally uninteresting dads to a completely normal child attending back to school night. 

Indrid has garnered more than a few whispers and stares, though that could be because he’s wearing a cardigan in shades of pink and yellow bright enough to hurt human eyes. 

“Well, Wayne, never thought I’d see you here.” 

“World works in mysterious ways, Mr. Haberfeld.” He turns to look at the principal, who, two plus decades ago, was a teacher who made Duck’s life miserable on more than one occasion. He long ago gave up on correcting him about his name. 

“I hear Ray is your child from a previous marriage, Mr, ah-”

“Cold.” Indrid’s smile is as chilly as his name, “Indrid Cold. And no, that is merely a small town rumor, I’m afraid. But Ray is my child all the same. Duck’s as well.”

“I admit they share his propensity for seeking attention. And presenting themselves in, ah, creative ways.”

Duck bristles, remembering how his coming out was labeled as "attention seeking" but Indrid replies calmly, smile widening with each word, “a trait I admire in both of them. And I am glad to hear from Ray that their classmates and teachers have been so warm and welcoming. After all, if Ray were to be singled out for scrutiny, it would be...disastrous for whoever did so.”

Haberfeld takes a step back, “Uh, of course. Nice speaking with you both, but I should go make the rounds.”

Duck watches him go, then kisses Indrid soundly before murmuring, “damn, you even used the urban legend smile on him.”

“I saw almost no futures in which he did target Ray. But I didn’t feel like taking chances. After all,” Indrid drapes an arm around his shoulder, “I have to look after my family.”

\---------------------------------------------------------

“Uggghhhh.”

“What’s wrong, my medium-to-small star?”

“I do not understand this math problem.”

“Hmmm, Duck?”

“Don’t look at me, they’re doin math in whole new ways now. Maybe we oughta call Joe for help.”

“....Actually, in the futures it appears Jake will be the most helpful.”

“I’ll call the lodge.”

\---------------------------------------------------

Duck hears the front door open. Looks up to find Ray hanging their backpack by the door. They joined an art club that meets after school twice a week, and prefer to walk home afterwards. The school is close enough that Duck and Indrid decided a kid who spent years fending for themselves in Sylvain could probably traverse it without issue. 

“Hi Duck.”

“Hey, kid. How was school?”

“Fine. We are learning about a place called Egypt in history. I enjoy that they used pictures for writing. Where’s Indrid?”

“Um.” Duck looks toward the bedroom. Indrid has been there since, at a guess, two thirty, when the news reported that a freeway collapsed in Atlanta, killing twenty people. 

(Sitting on Indrid’s desk are crumpled drawings of Atlanta). 

“He’s...not feelin too good, kid. Y’know how he has visions all the time? Sometimes he tries to stop the things he sees comin and it don’t work. Guess that happened to him today. Usually best to just let him be for a bit.”

“Oh.” Ray says softly, brow furrowed. 

“I was thinkin we could do pizza for dinner. I’ll order, then you and me can watch a movie or somethin. ‘Drid’ll join us is he’s feelin up to it.”

“That sounds good.”

Duck orders the pizza, goes to Ray’s room only to hear their voice in the bedroom.

“I am home. So, ah, you do not have to worry about me. Or Duck. I just wanted you to know that. Since it seems like you spent much of today worrying about a lot.” They're perched on the bed, holding the stuffed mothman. 

Indrid chirrs in acknowledgement, but doesn’t roll over or uncover himself. 

“I am sorry you are sad.”

“It is not your fault, medium-sized star. But thank you for checking on me. Now, go do your homework while you wait for dinner. If you start now, you should be done by the time the pizza arrives.”

“Okay. Here, you might need this.” Ray sets the plushy on the bed before hopping off, heading back to their room. 

Duck stays watching Indrid for a moment, to be sure he doesn’t need anything from him. 

Slowly, a hand emerges from the blankets, touches the toy, and pulls it under the covers. 

\----------------------------------------------------------

“My, we got a lot of leaves on us this time around.”

“It’s because it’s fall. Dead leaves fall off trees easier.” Ray flaps their wings, trying to shake the debris loose. 

“Here, there are a few on your back. Let me...oh, oh my GOODNESS! Your markings, you’re getting your secondary markings!”

“Really?” Ray brings their wings into their view, squinting, “Oh, I see them now!”

“Come, let’s go into the bathroom, get some more light on them.”

“What’s all the fuss?” Duck steps in from the balcony where he's been window-gardening, wiping dirt off his hands.

“I got my markings!” Ray yells, sending all the pillows flying off the couch when they extend their wings. 

Duck follows them to the bathroom, and as Ray spins in the mirror, chirping, he taps Indrid’s shoulder. 

“Gettin the sense this is a pretty big deal.”

“It is. We’ll need to call Barclay and start planning a party immediately. It’s a bit like a, hmm, perhaps a Quinceanera, or a Bar Mitzvah? It marks a transition towards adulthood.” 

“Gotcha. Seems like most of the lodge will want to come-”

“Barclay is going to lose his shit, as you are so fond of putting it.”

“-and we’ll wanna invite Ned and Boyd, and maybe some of the Hornets too.” Duck pulls out his phone and opens the to-do list app that Stern got him hooked on.

“Indrid, Duck, look, look!” Ray points excitedly to the eye-spots just beginning to show through the brown of their feathers. 

In the light they shine a brilliant, bright, perfect purple. 

\---------------------------------------------------

The lobby of Amnesty Lodge is decked out in bronze and purple, and the table is groaning under the weight of all the food (“Barclay started planning the menu the second after you called” Stern says with a smile). 

Ray flits from person to person, sometimes human and sometimes in moth form, showing off their markings, thanking people for coming, and answering questions about Earth school for the older Sylphs who have never been. 

Aubrey and Dani arrive with Dr Harris Bonkers and an immense basket of fireworks, (“magic, flameless ones, Duck, please don’t look so freaked out”). Ned brings Ray a lockpick kit and promises to teach them how to use it (“only as a hobby or for safety purposes, I swear”). 

Thacker brings some long-awaited information along with his offer of festive GORP.

“It seems that, had Sylvain not been dyin’ while Ray was a baby, they would have ended up like Indrid. The intent was for them to be gifted the same powers, maybe even be the next seer. But since Sylvain was weakened, they ended up with visions that only happen every so often, the way Duck's do."

“Huh, seems like one way or another, they were kinda meant to end up with you.” Duck says.

“With us.” Indrid corrects with a smile.

“There’s uh, one other thing I brought with me.” Thacker reaches into his pocket and produces a necklace. One half is orange crystal, the same as Indrid’s. But the other is black with swirls of red. He sets it around Ray’s neck reverently. 

“The one is so you don’t gotta rely on the springs to stay alright. The other is, well, Quell says it’ll keep you safe. Kinda like a ward against evil or somethin like that. Says that since there are some things that can't be healed, this is the least she can give you.”

Ray touches the necklace, nods with solemn understanding. 

Duck is impressed with the gift, but he happens to know he and Indrid have an even better one up their sleeves. 

Ray is getting ready to take a ceremonial flight around the lobby, Duck waves them over to a quiet corner of the hall.

“Is everything okay?” Ray, currently human, looks between them.

“Indeed, my average-sized star.” Indrid produces a piece of paper, holding it out. Ray takes it, reads. 

“Know there’s a lotta legal mumbo-jumbo on there, but, uh, Indrid and I have been talkin, and then we talked with a bunch of other folks and, well” he takes a deep breath, “that form is the one sayin we wanna adopt you.”

Ray drops the paper, but Indrid’s hand is already there to catch it as it flutters down.

“You are going to be my dads?”

“If you want us to be.” 

Ray leaps into his arms in a hug, and he holds them tight.

“I do. I want that so much.”

“Well, don’t that just work out perfect? Because we want that an awful lot too.” Duck sniffs, lets Indrid wipe the stray tear from under his eye as he joins the hug.

“I have a family.” Ray whispers tearfully. 

“A rather large one at that.” Indrid says, glancing towards the lobby before brushing the hair from their forehead, “but I promise that even when it’s just the three of us, you will be loved more than any creature on Earth or Sylvain.”

They head back into the lobby, Duck giving a thumbs up that sends everyone cheering and congratulating them.

As soon as the crowd settles, Ray begins their flight, making a full circle of the lobby with ease, Indrid cheering proudly and clapping all four of his hands. 

Ray alights on the back of the couch and bows before flopping down with a giggling chirp. Indrid scoops them up, spinning in circles until he too collapses on the couch in a fit of laughter. 

Duck settles beside them, their friends pulling up chairs and filling plates, talking happily amongst themselves and with Ray. 

He rests his head on Indrid’s shoulder, Ray putting their ring on to better cuddle up against their parents. The necklace Thacker gave them glitters in the firelight. He looks at it for a moment, then at Indrid, head thrown back in a laugh, and at Ray, nestling down between them.

It’s true, not everything can be healed. Not everything can be repaired. 

But it is equally true, in Duck’s experience, that in the gaps left behind, new and wonderful things can grow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! This was a really fun one to write.


End file.
